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The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) has joined #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity worldwide. Entering its fifth year, #GivingTuesday is held annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to inspire people to give back in impactful ways to the causes and communities they support.

Since 2003, the NPA has taken on the ambitious agenda to improve the postdoctoral experience by supporting enhanced research training, and a culture of enhanced professional growth to benefit scholarship and innovation. Postdoctoral scholars conduct research and support discovery that directly affects and improves the quality of lives for millions of people. They are the individuals conducting basic and clinical research throughout the country that advances medical discoveries through new drug development, advanced cancer therapies, and more. Our goal is to raise awareness of the invaluable contributions that postdoctoral scholars make, and to encourage individuals to support the future of innovation by donating directly on our website.

The NPA aims to raise $3,000 in support of current and future postdoctoral scholars.Postdocs of the future are counting on you. Won’t you help make their future better?

Along with funding daily operations, your contribution will be used toward webinars and publication of our Institutional Policy Report, and will allow the NPA to provide a national voice for postdoctoral scholars; to facilitate positive change for postdocs; and thereby to advance the research enterprise in the United States.

There are several ways to donate – by check or credit card, online or by mail. Be sure to log in before you donate to ensure that your donation is associated with your member profile. You can also set-up your donation to be reoccurring on the donation form.

"When I think of the work that the NPA does, none is more important than giving young researchers a chance to lead and a chance to learn."

During her first postdoc experience at Thomas Jefferson University, Mansi became involved in the NPA and her local postdoc association (PDA), where she served as both treasurer and president. During this time, she was able to utilize her leadership skills by attending the Annual Meeting where she presented a session on “speed networking” for postdocs.

Mansi is now in her second postdoc appointment and partnering with Johnson & Johnson by conducting research on Alzheimer’s Disease at the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR) at the University of Pennsylvania.

“The NPA gave me a platform for development.”

Leah Cook, Ph.D.

Leah is a postdoc researching how cancer spreads to the bone at Moffitt Cancer Research Center. When she arrived at Moffitt a postdoctoral office or association did not exist. Leah worked with several colleagues and advocated to the administration that these were important issues for their postdoctoral program. They went to the NPA website and used tools such as the NPA Core Competencies and Recommended Policies and Practices to make their case. They also spoke with NPA staff to gain advice on how to approach their administration.

After much work, Leah is proud to say that there is now a Moffitt postdoctoral association and beginning in 2017, there will be a postdoctoral office and advisor.

“The NPA provides guidelines on how postdoctoral training should be implemented. We wouldn’t have the level of training at Moffitt if it wasn’t for the NPA.”

Moffitt also hosts an annual Jr. Scientist Summit that trains participants in areas such as grant writing, presenting your work, and exploring different career paths. Leah said that the NPA has been instrumental in
this area.

Bjorn Harink, Ph.D.

Bjorn is a postdoc at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), an AVID fan of the NPA. When he arrived in the United States there wasn’t a postdoc association (PDA) at his institution. He began participating in NPA programs such as National Postdoc Appreciation Week. He later received a travel award and attended the 2016 NPA Annual Meeting in Michigan. After that he was hooked!

The NPA “inspired me to meet up with other postdocs with the same struggles. Going to the Annual Meeting really helped me see that I wasn’t alone.”

Since that time Bjorn started a multi-institutional PDA entitled “Bay Area Postdocs” which includes his institution and others such as Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the Gladstone Institute.